LOOT DROP REVEALS STORY DETAILS ABOUT "OLD SCHOOL RPG"

Our new Old School RPG Kickstarter has reached $150K -- thank you again so much for getting in on the ground floor of this exciting new project -- and we're here to release new info! In addition to announcing that we are DRM-free and have a Linux Stretch Goal, we are announcing new and exciting details on the game’s universe, theme, and setting.

SET UP

Work Log. August 6, 2526.

Looking back, it was a typical day. Got the job assignment, the briefing (Planet: Antera, Blade Sector, Settlement 5; Year: 400 AR; Crew Req: +3), and picked out my crew. I seem to pull the medieval jobs more than most, maybe because I'm good with a sword... too good for my own good, probably.

"Next contact in 2 weeks, Connelly."

It's my fourteenth trip to Antera. I know the drill like the back of my hand, so when Mission Director Kendrick says this, this guy I have worked with for years now, I don't even turn around to acknowledge it or him. I just walk out. I had no idea then that two weeks later, a promise of contact would be instead completely cut off.

SETTING

James Connelly works for Shaker, a Bridge corporation between time and worlds. Depending on the job he - or any of Shaker’s 400 employees - can be anyone you want them to be. Human warrior? Done. Cyborg Psionic, also done. "Remember the 4 F's: Frontier dictates form, function and family" according to the official employee manual.

Officially, Connelly was a resident of the Bridge, but he spent so much time away from it that the concept of residence and permanence had lost its meaning over time. He lived out of a locker at Shaker, storing only his most important mementos there -- family heirlooms, a couple of gifts from post-jobs. He slept in rooms usually assigned to other Shaker employees destined for imminent departure. His family, a wife and two kids, residents of Barrow, would visit him when they could.

On July 24, 2526, that would change. His frontier would become his home, his form would become his being, his function and new family possibly his forever. Shaker, it seems, had ceased communicating. The supplies and support he expected - he needed - were no where to be found. His return transport was unknown. He and his three crew were alone.

Antera - a medieval, barely developed planet - was now his home.

EXPANDED STORY - EXTRA GAME

Connelly was not the only one affected by what happened at Shaker on July 24.

SETTING

Darien Cole was a fairly young operative in Shaker, and she was on a fast track up the ladder. She was an early graduate, PhDs in Linguists and Physics, a natural candidate for pre-jobs, post-jobs, whatever she was thrown. She was a proud veteran of 34 missions, no problems or errors. She occupied a slightly larger cabin on Epsilon level, two up from typical grunts sent out for Direct Action missions.

Named for her late father, Darien grew up self-assured, independent. She had little time or tolerance these days for relationships or friends. That is, apart from her mother, a higher-ranking Director for Shaker, and a young Shaker operative she knew, Jules Ancari. Back in Op Training, her only equal.

She and Jules were two rising stars in Shaker, until he was sent on an urgent post-job on Tenerus. The other Shaker operative returning said Jules never saw it coming. No one was sure what happened. They found him a few miles away, brought him back to The Bridge. They started a regen procedure, but Jules would be comatose for months, maybe forever.

SETUP

Darien did up her suit, slung her pack over her shoulder, and walked to the lift.

Omnis Chamber 10, July 24, 2526.

Kendrick was calling off checks when Darien entered the room. The Mission Director looked up.

“You’re early, Cole. As usual.”

She nodded, doing one last gear check.

He shook his head, signaled the Om-tech. She waited for the other ops, silencing her nerves. The door opened. She recognized Jenkison from the Charon job. Nodded. The other two followed in. They were in light-protection suits, small packs, short mission.

Kendrick spoke. “You all know the drill. Gear check, Om-Tuner check. Any questions from the earlier briefing on Tenerus or the mission.”

Darien’s jaw muscles tightened. She said nothing.

Everyone nodded, ready. Kendrick raised his hand to the tech. The group of four ops turned toward the hum and glow of the Omnis, took a breath, stepped forward in the oval of light.

July 24, 2526. Tenerus. Relative Chronology Unknown.

With a flash, they were on Tenerus, inflectors and rebreathers on. A biting wind blew fine gravel, battering their suits.They started their mission. A week, they said. They marched toward a light in the distance.

July 27, 2526. Tenerus. Local: 71 AC. Might as well be July.

Three days in, they were on Phase 2. All was going well. Heading to the second colony. It was dark, wind had died down, and their feet made trails in the gravel that covered the ground for miles. About two clicks left.

Suddenly Jenkison was gone. The space near them wobbled. Out of nowhere, Dover appeared. Well, half of him anyway. She checked her Om-tuner.

The tuner was supposed to head them back to the evac site. It read nothing.

Nothing.

They were alone.

Work Log, July 27th, 2526. 71 AC.

“We buried Dover best we could. Looking for Jenkison. No tuner signal at all, will return periodically. Heading for next colony.”

They were stranded on Tenerus -- a harsh, barely-settled planet with scattered factories and settlements; various races, friendly and not.

And no way home.

THE GAME AND THE EXPANSION

The first game brings you to The Bridge and then to Antera in the role of James Connelly. The second game, set on Tenerus, expands on this universe and story with Darien Cole.

@Hardeep Singh, I just read your comment. In terms of the game itself at this point in time I'm more psyched about it than I'm about Project Eternity or I was for Wasteland 2. Those game I pledged to because of the track record of the developers. Here it's more because I like the setting and gameplay described so far and think it would be an interesting change from other RPG's I played and which are being created (which are all the 3rd person overhead style).

Initially I didn't know what to think, because of the lack of information, but now that more details are available I think it's worth backing. Pity the weak start hurt the project.

Great story idea! I am getting really excited about this game and the prospect of getting a second one that is interlinked with the first one story-wise...
Please take care that the story is actually interactive, meaning i can make decisions that have different consequences for me, NPCs, factions and the ultimate outcome of the story... (i know, a sentence easily written but very hard to realize... nevertheless i hope you can integrate this "interacting element" as much as possible as just then - when your decisions really matter - you get immersed in another world...)
Good luck with the campaign!

You guys should really focus on explaining and designing the video game before talking about the tabletop RPG. You need 2.1 million before you can even begin to consider the tabletop RPG, so it would be much better to explain what you want to do with your first game before juggling two of them.

This update is welcome news, giving us some idea of what sort of game we're signing up to. The "two games" stretch does make more sense now, I'd agree, but I also think we would be better off without it and having the worlds and characters integrated into a single larger game (as with The Longest Journey which had two worlds, the hi-tech Stark and magical Arcadia).
As for the 4-character party limit, I'm in agreement with others here that the option for a larger party would be better (which could be counter-balanced with slower advancement). Most RPGs of the '80s/'90s allowed for 6-8 character parties, a 4-character limit seems to be an affectation of more "modern" games.

@zak. That's not actually the point. If you have played Wizardry 7 (without external help as I did back when it came out), you'd understand that it was filled with great but also obscure stuff. Some of the riddles took me ages to solve and there were dead ends too which had you get back to very old savegames if you didn't want to cheat your current savegames. So one thing is that nowadays games tend to be on the short side, but the other thing is that objectively I don't have that much time to solve obscure things. :) However even if Wizardry 7 is one of the few games where I felt really proud of myself when I actually finished it.

My point is that with the significantly less ammount of time nowadays, it's hard to get (even with the all savegames of the world) to correct mindset to remember everything which happened so far and follow the train of thought I was on when solving obscure stuff. :) In this respect Wizardry 8 was much more immersive even if the story was not so intriguing as the story in wizardry 7.

Regardless of my personal views, this will be game by Brenda Brathwaite and (that) Tom Hall, so pledge was instant when it appeared. I just want to know more to possible raise it. So far we know only very little about it. For me it's more about supporting those two than the actual game we know nothing about, yet. :)

@ Jan Kavan, 'save game' is your friend (as always). I don't get the modern refrain of 'i just don't have time', save your game, get back to it, you are in no rush to finish it? I find that i got bored of most modern day games as you could finish most over a weekend of gaming, sadly in that model i don't have an option to extend my play time, atleast with big, deep old school games you can just save and carry on later (for months at a time!). Good days, sadly missed imho.

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And just to say good luck for the team at Loot Drop, i spend a lot of time playing old games (praise GoG!) as they offer...more? And deep/complex rpg's were one of my favourites (Alternate reality on the atari 8bit an early high point for me), so i'm really pleased to see you guys (with all the right experience) on the case.

If the game is in a vein of Wizardry 8 minus half and hour long battles, I'll up my pledge. :) If the game will play like wizardry 7 (one of my most beloved games), I'll fear I don't have that much time anymore. I recall playing that game for years (without hints or walkthroughs) to get to the end. Still even with this update I'd be glad to see some more substantial information about the game. Somehow the Sci-fi setting appeals to my much more than the original generic fantasy image.

@Jeremy Reaban: Albion and Krondor differs from RPGs by Obsidian quite a lot. Krondor is '93 and Albion '95 (but it's a kind of sequel of Amberstar from '93). And Wizardry 8 is from 2001! The question is, what exactly is "old-school". It's generally too vague word. I would not be against step-based, Wiz 7-like rpg, but I doubt this will happen. It's just too radical.

So this means you get forced to be some character you don't create? I'm not sure I like that part. In fact, I know I don't. While I give them different names, to a certain extent, the guy I play in RPGs is "me".

"James Connelly works for Shaker, a Bridge corporation between time and worlds. Depending on the job he - or any of Shaker’s 400 employees - can be anyone you want them to be. Human warrior? Done. Cyborg Psionic, also done. "Remember the 4 F's: Frontier dictates form, function and family" according to the official employee manual."

@Atarum: this sounds to me like "you are free to create your own party"....

I'm with Ryan on this one. I bet if this had been posted with the start of the Kickstarter, pledges would be much higher. I'm guessing they wanted to see how much just the name recognition would bring? Either way, I was in at $15 on the first day :) I told my friends who have been waiting for more info to check out this update.

Yesterday, I honestly thought this kickstarter was a joke. The video was so silly, and there were no details about the story or gameplay. This update, however, is fantastic. This sounds like a fascinating game setting, and I'm now happy to increase my pledge. I look forward to seeing more of this world!